Entrapment
by mistakendragon815
Summary: In the life of a Thief
1. Hello, Mr Skinner

**Stuff you want or need to know: So, I guess you should know by now that LXG is not mine sadly...and that I am also a major Rodney Skinner fan. So if you would like me to write more Skinner stories, just ask...or I'll just write them anyway and the reviews I get can be used as ideas.  
And the show must go on. Enjoy my story!**

"Can you sense it? It's closer than before."

A small squad of 4 policemen sat outside a small cottage, concealed in the underbrush of the unkempt garden, and waited impatiently for a guest to enter the home. As usual in downtown London, it was raining. A massive downpour of hail and water were to be expected. Not usually the type of weather that'd you would expect a thief to go scouring but for one particular being, it was the perfect time of day. Of course, the particularly chosen cabin the police were guarding had been set up to appeal the likes of one such thief their employer was eager to catch. It was the most important job of their lives. They just hoped the robber would come.

Water quickly rolled off the roof and into the wet gutters as time passed and sore legs were shared amongst the spies as they continued to wait for the house to be broken into. A young fair-haired cop broke the silence quietly. "How do we even know he hasn't broken into the house already and…?" The man beside him smacked him in the back of the head and pressed his finger to his own lips as a quiet gesture for the young man to shut up.

A warning rustle sounded from the other side of the path and alerted the rest subtly that the once locked door was now being invisibly unlocked and opened. This was it. The moment the retrieval team had been waiting for a long time. Rodney Skinner had finally arrived. Everyone knew what to do as they quietly filed in through the door and down the dark hallway. Each door, bar one, had been purposely locked so that they could trap the thief like a mouse in the only room that was open and had no windows.

As anticipated, wet footprints had mark the trail as to where the bandit was heading; Right into the trap. Jingling and rustles of fake jewels and documents that were suppose to portray items of greater value echoed through the hallway and encouraged the troupe of police to advance of their room and lock the door once they were all in and notice a hovering gem.

"He's there!" The young policeman yelled unnecessarily and lunged towards the gem but was rewarded with a kick, or punch, to the head. The senior officers knew this was going to be the one of the kind of forceful attitude the thief was bound to show and slowly circle his invisible form, keeping one of the men stationed by the door at all times.

Frantically, the Invisible Man pushed through the advance men but failed and was thrown to the ground and handcuffed after much fumbling and the fact that the thief surrendered because he uttered allowed that this was just plain nonsense. "What do you want, anyway?"

In a very professional voice, the eldest officer hoisted Rodney from the ground by his crossed arms and said, "Rodney Skinner, you're under arrest for trespassing, burglary and other misdeeds." The officer heard his prisoner scoff. "However, our superiors have informed us that you are needed for a highly important for Britain and the Empire."

"Oh yeah? And what do I, my humble self, get in return?" Rodney retorted in his thick accent.

"You get your cure."

If anyone had been able to see his eyes at that moment in time, observers would have noticed Skinner's eyes going rounder and rounder every second that past. After Rodney silently composed himself, he asked, "Who else is involved?"

"Men with unbelievable qualities."

**Right, well, I'm not sure if I should make more chapters so I need reviews to know what people thought about this and whether or not I should make it into a romance or drama or supernatural. Anyway, please review. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside.**


	2. Introduce yourself, Captain

**Stuff: Hello, I'm back. I intended this story to be just Rodney's introduction but I've decided to continue with it and make it a multi-chapter story. Hope you enjoy. (Omg, short 'Stuff')**

"Unbelievable qualities my invisible arse." A thick cockney accent echoed about the library hall. "'ho do they think I am? An average like these guys? Not anymore." The invisible voice rattled around the room with its chuckle.

"Something wrong, Mister Skinner?" An upper-class gentleman inquired. His moustache twitched upward every time he heard the cockney drawl; half out of annoyance and the other half glee; glee that he finally caught the most elusive man in Great Britain, perhaps the world even.

The chair the invisible figure was sitting on turned in a hauntingly way towards the older man and leaned itself backwards. "Your man back in London said you had made a team of extraordinary people, but as far as I've read, these guys make me want to sleep." He flipped open all the files and invisible shoved each folder away as soon as he stated who they were. "An ol' codger, a black captain of the pirates, a scientist with a spooky wife," M put his finger up to note that the 'spooky wife' was the one coming and not the gentleman beside her, but the Invisible Man would have taken hardly any notice of him and continued, "a ponce in a bowler's hat and a weedy twit." Rodney scoffed. "'ardly any of 'em even remotely wonderful."

M smirked but shifted his eyes to the slowly opening door. Its hinges creaked softly and lead the door frame smoothly his way so to block the new occupant of the room. "Ah, welcome Captain."

The shadowy figure clad in an intricately decorated armoured uniform and royal blue turban enter the hall and looked grimly at M. Obviously not a man who smiled a lot, thought Skinner. "Good evening." The turbaned man, forgivingly, had not noticed the third party in the room and almost knocked into him if the Invisible Man hadn't been stupidly holding out his hand sarcastically.

"Well, good evening to you to." Skinner laughed when the Indian flinched at his voice and immediately unsheathe his sabre halfway.

"What tricks are you playing, sir?" Although his rough exterior and infamously noted title of pirate may deceive most people, the Captain was actually a gentleman when it came to people he didn't know; Rodney came to be an exception because the pirate's gentlemanly attitude was only conveyed to people he could see.

M smiled, his thin moustache turning with his upper lip. "Allow me to introduce my self. My name is M," the Englishman offered his hand which was taken by a gloved and armoured one, "and no tricks will be played here. What you see is basically what you get." Skinner rolled his eyes and snuck up on the unsuspecting captain as he stated his name.

"Captain Nemo at your service." As the pirate said his name an unsuspecting prod to his side startled him greatly and a loud chuckle echoed after. "What is going on, M?" Nemo was furious at the lack of discipline the fiend was displaying towards him and full unsheathed his sword, holding it tightly in front.

"Hey, take it easy now, heh." A vibrating shudder of Nemo's sword was seen as Rodney flicked its steel blade. "Nice sword."

"It'd been nicer if it had your blood on it, so show yourself, fiend."

M raised a finger to interrupt the quarrel. "Rodney here is a unique type of person, as you can see. But we'll get onto to that later. If you don't mind heading around the back for some sherry, please do so. Our other guests should be arriving soon."

A gruff grunt and the scraping of metal against metal was all the noise needed to know that Nemo was leaving. Rodney seemed to have already left, but one could never know for he left his coat on the middle chair.

As Nemo turned around the corner, he saw a floating glass full of amber liquid being poured into an invisible gullet. "Sir?"

The liquid was pushed down and then disappeared as Skinner swallowed. "Heh, sorry 'bout before, so allow me to introduce myself prop'ly. Rodney Skinner." The said man tapped Nemo's armoured hand to indicate he wanted to shake. The pirate complied. "Sherry?"

"Yes, thank you." Nemo watched as the sherry seemingly poured itself into an awaiting glass and made its way to him. He took it hesitantly, not really one for the supernatural (even though his awaiting team was full of unusual folks that he'd yet to see) but said his thanks anyway. "Tell me, Mister Skinner, how did you become who you are today?"

"I stol-borrowed a dead scientists formula and turned like this. I don't wanna blow my own horn too much but I feel kinda special being here but not really." Skinner placed his hand on Nemo's shoulder. "And why are you here? Your file wasn't all that interestin' to me."

Nemo rolled his shoulders back to make himself taller and respectable, losing the other man's grip on him in the progress. "I'm an engineer and that's all you need to know." The Indian walked back towards the hall, accidentally interrupting a conversation and noticing the newcomer; Allan Quatermain.

"Ah, Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo." Nemo tipped his body a fraction as a welcome.

"I know of Mister Quatermain." In fact, he had heard the man's name many a times across the seas and oceans. It never seemed to go away. Tales of the man's escapades to the Madagascan jungle had been the 'ideal' topic his sailors had brought up around the table as they tried to find an old witch doctor to heal one of his sailor's scurvy. Nemo did not appreciate it.

Trying not to sound overly rude with his statement, Nemo replied that he had heard of the elderly Scotsman. In response, Allan quirked his mouth upwards in a knowing grin. "And I know of you, Captain." This man knew of Nemo's title and stated it aloud even though he knew the answer. "Rumour has it that you're a pirate."

Beside Nemo was Rodney Skinner, standing still and listening with a huge smile on his face, knowing that finally there was going to be a rivalry that he could spur on. And that the old geezer would probably die of fright if he heard his voice. One less codger in the world. Skinner tuned out of the conversation and began to walk slowly over to Quatermain and trying not to make a creak. "Harker, the chemist."

This intrigued Skinner greatly. He must have skipped this 'Harker' person's profession for he was too busy looking at his spooky wife. "Eh, chemist, eh?" Skinner walked closer over to Allan to get a better view of Harker's profile. "Do we get to blow something up then?"

From across the room, Nemo attempted to look for Skinner jokingly and already taking a liking to the thief. Whilst M shifted his eyes, Allan rubbed his own and noted, "My eyesight must be worse than I thought."

Skinner slammed his folder down in front of Quatermain so the man could get to know him, but it only spooked him more. "No, your eyesight's fine."

"No games, M." Allan warned.

To Skinner's surprise, M began a speech about the scientist who made the invisible potion the he stole and introduce Skinner through the tale. Allan needed to confirm that the young scientist had died before accepting that there was an invisible man in the room. Still the old man did not believe it to be true until Skinner pushed his shoulder forward. "Believe it."

Sweeping his arm back to meet the side of Skinner's shoulder was a lucky shot for Allan's behalf. He only just scraped the Invisible Man and knocked into the lamp behind. A bit surprised, Rodney quickly recomposed himself although noting that the Scotsman was still a bit shocked himself and quipped, "Easy now, Allan. I'm feeling a bit o' a draft in my nether regions. And I must say it's quite refreshing."

Rodney chuckled in his mind as he finally got the chance to introduce himself properly and in full. Removing his leather coat in a dramatic fashion as he always wanted to and draping it around himself, Rodney said, "Allow me to introduce myself: Rodney Skinner. Gentleman Thief."

Needless to say, Nemo was not amused.

**Other Stuff: *phew* I did this chapter. I hope I kept Nemo in his original character, if not, tell me i didn't and I'll improve him with you constructive criticism. Oh, and that reminds me...please review hahahaha  
Later Taters**


	3. I Spy

**Stuff: TT_TT!!!! Sorry for taking so friggin' long to upload another chapter...and yes, this is a short one, but I have an excuse. You ready? I'M IN GRADE TWELVE!!! I've had a year of exams and cosplaying and homework and drawing going on so I'm really sorry :(...Hopefully people are still reading this :s**

**Anyway, check out my deviantart profile: .com  
I do requests for stories to draw for them, so don't be afraid to holler if you want a pic for your fic  
**

"Behold, _Nautilus_. The Sword of the Ocean."

Skinner leaned over to their newest recruit, the American going by the name of Tom Sawyer, and jibbed, "He was always an over-the-top man if you ask me." The American glanced over at his stained comrade and shrugged half-heartedly. "Names Rodney Skinner if you didn't catch it before." He held out his hand to shake.

The blonde brushed past his companion to catch up with Quartermain. "Nice to meet you, Mister Skinner." The farewell was rushed but unneeded for a gloved hand caught hold of him and yanked him backwards. The arm attached retracted slightly and slung itself over his shoulder.

"I believe you owe me shake." Another hand clasped around Tom's and shook it vigorously. The American yanked his hand back to his chest and eyed the white man suspiciously. "So you lookin' for revenge Sawyer, was it?"

"Tom." His name was quick and sharp on his tongue like a whip. "And it's not revenge. Well, in a way it is, but not like what you think."

"Then tell me what I think." Skinner folded his arms and smirked.

Tom looked over his shoulders longingly at the ship floating patiently at the docks and jogged on the spot in frustration and out of coldness. Looking back at the Invisible Man, Tom couldn't figure out why he was shivering even if he had a leather coast on. "Can't this wait for onboard?" A quick glance to the side at the vampiress was all the indication Skinner needed to boost his curiosity about Tom and some of his agenda.

"I see." Tom whipped his eyes back to Skinner and raised his eyebrows. "You want a bit of her blood don' ya?" Skinner chuckled at his joke and bumped elbows with his acquaintance. Tom shifted uncomfortably and made to leave. Skinner followed closely behind.

"Skinner, I know you an' I have only just met, but you seriously need to leave me, okay?" Skinner just nodded with a smile, irking Sawyer. "What do you want?"

"There are a lot of things I want, but you're not one of them." He paused to think. "Unless America has a cure for what I have?" Tom shook his head and continued up the ramp. "Listen here Sawyer."

Tom spun around, leaned a hand on one of his guns around his waist and waited. "What?"

Skinner walked right up to the foreigner, almost face-to-face but chest-to-chest, cocked an eyebrow and lowered his pince-nez slightly down his nose, revealing his disturbing hollow eyes and whispered, "Don' get in my way of my cure, Sawyer." A shift of his head clued Sawyer that Skinner was staring at the only woman onboard. "Or of anyone on board."

Feeling Skinner's hard shove to his chest, Tom stumbled back and watched in the corner of his eye as the coat drifted calmly past him. He had a feeling that the Invisible Man was up to something.


End file.
